Abrading device



Nov. 16, 1965 M. A. CANALE 3,217,447

ABRADING DEVICE Filed Feb. 1, 1962 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. F/G. MICHAEL A. CANALE yck/ wk ATTORNEY Nov. 16, 1965 M. A. CANALE ABRADING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 1, 1962 INVENTOR. M/C/MEL A CA/VALE C uo/wk ATTORNEY Nov. 16, 1965 M. A. CANALE 3,217,447

ABRADING DEVICE Filed Feb. 1, 1962 s Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. MICHAEL A. CAN/1L5 dwwd AT TORNE Y vpleasing and useful translucent effect.

United States Patent 3,217,447 ABRADHNG DEVKCE Michael A. Canals, 8M Oakiield Ave, Wantagh, N.Y. Filed Feb. 1, 1962, Ser. No. 170,334 9 Claims. (Cl. 51--9) This invention relates to a device for abrading, graining and/ or roughening the surface of any material such as plastic, metal, paper or the like.

In many applications, it is often desirable to grain or roughen the surface of a material. For example, sheets of plastic which are designed to be used as diffusion filter mediums for lighting fixtures or lamps provide a Stainless steel, copper, brass and aluminum sheets are sometimes grained or chased to provide an ornamental as well as a finished surface.

In addition, sheets of plastic, aluminum and other materials may be adapted for use in lithographic processes. Originally, lithographic printing and designs were put on stone with a greasy material and printed impressions were produced therefrom. As the art developed, the stone was replaced with metals comprising zinc, aluminum or a similar material instead of the stone. A sheet plastic material having an abraded or grained surface is also suitable for lithographic printing. Thus, there may be any number of reasons for providing material with an abraded, grained or roughened surface.

The present methods for preparing such surfaces are costly, inefiicient, and are sometimes unsatisfactory in that the abrading will be accomplished by dirty streaks and spotty areas.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide which will produce grained, abraded or roughened surfacing on materials of uniform good quality and inexpensively.

I achieve these objects as well as other objects and advantages with the device described in the specification hereinbelow.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of the invention partly in section;

FIG. 2 is a sectional View of the device as seen from the top along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1, as if FIG. 1 had been in elevation rather than in partial section;

FIG. 3 is another sectional view of the device as seen from lines 33 of FIG. 1, as if FIG. 1 had been in elevation rather than in partial section;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the device as seen along the lines 4-4 in FIG. 1, as if FIG. 1 had been in elevation rather than partial section; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged detail in plan of the variable pitch blades of the invention, the hub and the shaft; with parts of the blades, hub and shaft cut away and parts in section.

The device has a main frame or processing column which may be made of steel or any other material rigid enough to be self-supporting and to enclose and contain various components of the device as described herein. The processing column 16, as illustrated, is in its preferred form. However, it may also be made with a separate frame construction, or with an integral frame construction, or by any method of construction which will provide the enclosed processing column Ill.

Centrally located in the processing column 10 and suitably held in place by means of brackets 11, or welding or any other means, I provide dividing means 11a which divides the main frame 10 into an upper section 12 and a medial section 13. The upper part of the divider means 110 also serves as a floor 14 for an abrasive reservoir in the lower part of upper chamber 12.

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At a central portion of divider means 11a, I provide a bearing means in the form of an opening or other type of bearing means 15 for a shaft 16. At the upper part of the processing column 10, there is an upper opening 17, and mounted at or near the upper opening 17 by any suitable means is a motor 18 which drives shaft 16, through any suitable transmission means such as a pair of wheels 19 and 20, and a belt 21. The motor 18 may be an electric motor or any other means of supplying power to operate the device, or if desired, wheel 20 may be driven by a belt from an external source of power. At the lower part of the medial chamber 13, I provide a circular track means 22 and 22a on which I mount a horizontal fan wheel 25 comprising a plurality of vanes or blades 26. The fan blades 26 are attached to the vertical shaft 16 by means of any suitable hub arrangement 27, at their inner ends, and I provide the outer ends of the fan blades 26 with guide means, such as small bogie wheels 28, which are adapted to slide between tracks 22 and 22a and keep the blades 26 in line.

The horizontal fan wheel 25 acts as a divider between the medial chamber 13 and a lower chamber 30. Suitable arrangement can be made by adding means known to the art to provide a variable pitch for fan blades 26 through hub 27. For example, fan blades 26 may be connected to the hub 27 by means of threaded arms 100 adapted to be screwed into threaded openings 102 and secured by a pair of lock nuts 104 and 106. The pitch of the blade may be varied by loosening nuts 104 and 106 and then twisting the threaded arm 1110 in the threaded opening 102 until the blade has the desired pitch, then fastening nut 104 and then fastening nut 106 to lock the blade 26 in position. This same arrangement may be had on all of the blades which may be adjusted accordingly. Thus, power means or motor 18 is adapted to drive fan 25 at various speeds as desired, and the pitch of blades 26 may be varied. This construction provides for a completely variable control to move air from above the fan and to move it with force in a downward flow in a broad circular pattern directed beneath the fan 25.

Directly beneath the fan 25 and located in the lower chamber 30 is a working surface or table 31. Table 31 is arranged to be adjusted vertically or in any position with relation to the fan 25. It is mounted on vertical slides 32 and a movable X-frame 33 having a pivot means 34 and worm screw means 35 geared to threaded portions 36 in the lower parts of the X-frame 33. The worm screw means 35 are on a shaft 37 which can be rotated by wheel 38. Thus, when wheel 38 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the threads on the gear means 35 and the threaded portions 36 are arranged to cause the table 31 to rise by drawing lower parts of X-frame 33 together. This causes the X-frame to narrow and become higher acting on pivot means 34, and upper portions of X-frame 33 will then raise the table, moving it directly upward along guides 32.

By turning wheel 38 counterclockwise, the table can be lowered. A practical range of raising and lowering table 31 is defined by the dotted lines labeled U and D in FIG. 4 of the drawings. The means of lowering and raising table 31 just described may be substituted by any other equivalent means of mounting the table 31 with a vertical adjustment, or any other type of adjustment, and I may refer to these means as table adjustment means.

Rollers 40 and 41 are provided and mounted by means of suitable brackets 42 and 43 at ends of the table 31. At either side of the lower chamber 30, I provide horizontal slots 45 and 46 and brackets 47 and 48. Brackets 47 and 48 are adapted to hold reels 49 and 50 on which a web 51 of material may be reeled. Immediately above slots 45 and 46 and mounted on the inside of lower chamber 30, I provide horizontal rollers 55 and 56 which are mounted on brackets 57 and 58. Thus, a web of material 51, such as a plastic material, may be reeled from reel 49 through slot 45, beneath roller 55, above roller 40, over the surface of table 31, above roller .1, thence beneath roller 56, out through slot 46 and be taken up on reel 50. This arrangement provides for the web 51 to be held fiat on top of table 31 and to be drawn through and processed.

In addition to a web of material such as a plastic material, other materials of all shapes and forms which can be fed into, or placed in, the device may be processed. For example, coils of metal, rolls of paper or plastic as well as sheets and other thicknesses of metal, paper or plastic may be accommodated.

The device is operated as follows: sheet material 51 is placed on top of table 31. A quantity of abrasive is placed in sand reservoir 61 which is located in the lower end of upper chamber 72. A divider means 11a serves as an abrasive supply means by the provision of radial slits 62. When motor 18 is energized, it will cause fan 26 to create a forced down-draft in the direction of the arrows F shown above and below fan 26 in FIGS. 1 and 4 of the drawings. Abrasive 60 will fall through slits 62, through both the action of the force of gravity and the down-draft created by the fan 26. Action of fan 26 will also cause the grains of abrasive 60 to be dispersed in a downward and circular direction to cover the entire area over the surface of the table 31. In other words, grains of abrasive 6%) will be forced downward past the blades of the fan and strike material 51 on the upper surface of table 31 in such a fashion as to abrade and grain or roughen the material.

A series of gates are provided under each of the slots 62 to cut oif the supply of abrasive 60 when the machine is not in operation. These gates 62a are slideably mounted so that by any manual means such as handle 62!) mounted outside the processing column 10, an operator may slide the gates 62a underneath the slits 62 to be effectively cut off the flow of abrasive 60.

There is an exhaust column 70 having a housing 71 comprising sides erected alongside housing of the device. Exhaust column 70 communicates with housing 10 by means of an exhaust port 75 and also with upper housing 12 by means of abrasive re-entry ports '76, 76a and 76b. The forced down-draft created by the fan will cause air to leave lower chamber 30 through exhaust port 75 and flow upwardly through exhaust column 70 in the direction of arrows labeled E in FIG. 1 of the drawings. I may provide an alternate optional fan 100 and motor 101 located at the top of exhaust column 70 to assist the updraft of air and abrasive. This will cause the flow of air to pass a series of upwardly disposed bafiles '78 through 83 inclusive, and eventually out through the open upper end 85 of column 70. As this draft of air flows, it will carry with it grains of abrasive 60, and when it passes the baffies 78 through 83, substantially all of the abrasive remaining in the air draft column will be filtered out, and will re-enter upper chamber 12 through re-entry ports 76, 76a and 7612. Such abrasive as does not re-enter upper chamber 12 may fall to the bottom of column 70 and land in receiving drawer 90 which may be drawn out by means of handle 91, or any other means, and temporarily removed to transport such abrasive 60 as it receives to the upper part of the device to be reloaded into upper chamber 12 through upper opening 17. There are also a plurality of air inlet shafts 95 which communicate with air inlet openings 96 in the divider means 11a. The air inlet shafts have open upper ends 97. Abrasive 61), as contained in abrasive reservoir 61, will not fall through the air inlet shafts 95 because the height of these shafts will be normally higher than the top level of sand 60 loaded in abrasive reservoir 61.

While I have described my invention in its preferred form, there are other forms which it may take without leaving the spirit and scope of the invention, and I, therefore, desire to be protected for all forms coming within the claims hereinbelow:

Wherefore I claim:

1. A device for graining, abrading or roughening the surface of material comprising a processing column and an exhaust column in which the said processing column is substantially vertical and comprises at least one abrasive reservoir, means to hold material to be processed beneath the said abrasive reservoir, and blower means mounted in said processing column and located between the said abrasive reservoir and the said means to hold the material to be processed; with the said exhaust column being in substantially vertical position and comprising at least one bafiie; port means below the said baffle communicating between the said processing column and the said exhaust column, and port means above said baffle communicating with the said processing column and the said exhaust column; said abrasive reservoir comprising a floor portion and a plurality of substantially vertical hollow shafts communicating at their lower ends with openings in the said floor portion and being open at their upper ends, said shafts extending from the said floor portion to a height within the reservoir greater than the height of the level of abrasive contained in the said reservoir, said port means above the said bafile being located below the said open tops of the said shafts.

2. The device as defined in claim 1, having abrasive dispensing means comprising openings in the bottom of the said abrasive reservoir.

3. The device as defined in claim 1, in which the said blower means comprises a fan substantially perpendicular to the processing column and having a central hub with blades radiating therefrom to the walls of the said processing column.

4. The device as defined in claim 3, in which the said fan has variable pitch blades.

5. The device as defined in claim 1, in which the said means to hold the material to be processed is in the form of a table.

6. The device as defined in claim 5, in which the said table is mounted on means to adjust it relatively to the said blower means.

7. A device for cleaning, abrading or roughening the surface of material comprising a processing column and an exhaust column in which the said processing column is substantially vertical and comprises at least one abrasive reservoir having a floor at the bottom thereof and being substantially open at the top thereof, said reservoir comprising at least one hollow shaft with a lower end communicating with at least one opening in the floor of the said abrasive reservoir, and an upper end relatively higher than the normal level of abrasive in the said abrasive reservoir; means to hold material to be processed beneath the said abrasive reservoir, blower means mounted in said processing column between the floor of said abrasive reservoir and the said means to hold material to be processed; said exhaust column being in substantially vertical position and comprising at least one baffle, means below the said bafiie communicating between the said processing column and the said exhaust column, means above the said battle communicating with the said processing column and the said exhaust column, and abrasive dispensing means comprising at least one opening in the said fioor of the said abrasive reservoir other than the first mentioned opening, and at least one movable closure for the said abrasive dispensing means.

3. The device as defined in claim 7, in which the said means for holding material to be processed is mounted on means to adjust it relatively to the said blower means.

9. A reservoir for holding abrasive material in a cleaning, abrading or roughening device comprising a floor portion and wall means and having an open top portion in which said floor portion has a plurality of openings, each communicating directly with a hollow shaft extending substantially vertically from said floor portion to a height at least as high as the said open top portion of the said reservoir, said reservoir having at least one other opening in the said floor portion thereof communicating directly with the interior of the said reservoir.

6 Parrish 5114 Wells 51-9 Paasche 51-14 Persak 51-8 Mead 51-8 LESTER M. SWINGLE, Primary Examiner.

JOHN C. CHRISTIE, Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR GRAINING, ABRADING OR ROUGHENING THE SURFACE OF MATERIAL COMPRISING A PROCESSING COLUMN AND AN EXHAUST COLUMN IN WHICH THE SAID PROCESSING COLUMN IS SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AND COMPRISES AT LEAST ONE ABRASIVE RESERVOIR, MEANS TO HOLD MATERIAL TO BE PROCESSED BENEATH THE SAID ABRASIVE RESERVOIR, AND BLOWER MEANS MOUNTED IN SAID PROCESSING COLUMN AND LOCATED BETWEEN THE SAID ABRASIVE RESERVOIR AND THE SAID MEANS TO HOLD THE MATERIAL TO BE PROCESSED; WITH THE SAID EXHAUST COLUMN BEING IN SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL POSITION AND COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE BAFFLE; PORT MEANS BELOW THE SAID BAFFLE COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE SAID PROCESSING COLUMN AND THE SAID EXHAUST COLUMN, AND PORT MEANS ABOVE SAID BAFFLE COMMUNICATING WITH THE SAID PROCESSING COLUMN AND THE SAID EXHAUST COLUMN; SAID ABRASIVE RESERVOIR COMPRISING A FLOOR PORTION AND A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL HOLLOW SHAFTS COMMUNICATING AT THEIR LOWER ENDS WITH OPENINGS IN THE SAID FLOOR PORTION AND BEING OPEN AT THEIR UPPER ENDS, SAID SHAFTS EXTENDING FROM THE SAID FLOOR PORTION TO A HEIGHT WITHIN THE RESERVOIR GREATER THAN THE HEIGHT OF THE LEVEL OF ABRASIVE CONTAINED IN THE SAID RESERVOIR, SAID PORT MEANS ABOVE THE SAID BAFFLE BEING LOCATED BELOW THE SAID OPEN TOPS OF SAID SHAFTS. 